Flesh and Bones
by MademoiselleSummertime
Summary: Shin has had it pretty bad, but he receives a wake-up call from a stranger.  Inspired by the song Flesh and Bones by Brendan Benson


"That's nawt too bad, where's the sacrifice, huh boy?" the girl said. She had a heavy accent as she spoke, giving away her urban upbringing "How much do yew cost? How much would a woman pay to sleep witchoo?" She asked without restrictions, shame didn't seem to be her thing.

Shin gave her an estimation of a weekly profit, he charged all his clients differently, usually based on whim. The girl widened her eyes "what? All that money just for yew?" she started laughing, clearly the alcohol has gotten to her already "who's yer spawnsor? I need to meet this man" she said playfully tapping him on the shoulder. He explained he worked solo and she raised a coloured eyebrow at him "you mean you don't have a pimp?" No, I don't.

He felt guilty for even daring to sit at the same bench with this girl, clearly she was a professional in the business, someone who knew all the rules and cues. Her over-the-top reactions to his lifestyle made him feel like a pampered little boy, he knew nothing about being beat down, all of a sudden all the problems he faced with his father seemed like a walk through the park. People here had no daddies "naw boy, I never met my father, my mother was no good at keeping track of those things."

He looked at her hair, it was heavily dyed and after a night of heavy workflow it was tangled and torn "I don't pick the colour, my spawensor makes decisions like that." Her nails were bright colours, a visible code to customers: pink meant condom required, yellow meant extra charge for kink and red meant she was unavailable. It required dedication to keep the bulletin updated, no time for those little white daisies Hachi would trace on her manicure.

Her make up was washed off by this time of night: no eyelashes sticking up statically, no intricate eyeliner designs, no smoky eyelids of even glossy lips. "Takes me at least half and hour to cake it all one and just a couple swiped to wipe it off."

Shinichi's head started to hang lower the deeper he dug. How did you start? "Like all the other girls, looking for food in mah belly and a warm body to howld on to." How old were you? "Boy, just to give you and idea, I still couldn't braid my own hair back then."

Why? "Because I was broken-hearted, Shin, my body was already ruined and I though 'what the hell'." He knew nothing about hate. Hate was none of the petty things he though about his father, hate was having a neglectful mother with an abusive and sexually depraved boyfriend… it was being forced out of one's home by an unemployed alcoholic.

But look at her, she holds stranger's hands and displays a warm smile. Ignore the cuts on her legs; she's soft all over. A busted lip? She's scrumptiously kissable. Yes, that's a bruise on her back and a bite mark o her neck but how can you care when her eyes shine in such a way?

"No, don't be sad. You're wonderful Shin, you're so young and full of life" so are you "no, no" she laughs "my soul has left me lawng ago, this is just flesh and bones, baby."

There were phones ringing all around the room in a surprisingly soothing choreography. I was arrested for possession of marihuana, I forced my band out of tour, way to be an adult. But how can I sulk when "I've done most anything, blow, dust, eccies… I didn't want to, it's all for the money." What about addiction? "Hah, there is entire weeks of my life I have no recollection of."

She slipped her feet out of her high-heeled shoes and sighed "damn, these things will be the death of me". Disease is my biggest fear. "I though dying alone was." Disease comes first, then you die alone.

"You know what I really like? The violin"

I want to hear about the violin but my bail just got paid. I was out before I set foot in a jail cell. A man with a moustache and bags under his eyes called him up to the front and returned his belongings, he looked back at the girl as she just sat there. Good bye.

"Bye Shin, take care will ya?"

Then he knew, the cause of all her misery. Like al those other men, he wanted her. He wanted her to be his, and he wanted to hold her close. It was a magnetic field pulling him in against all reason. Then he remembered. 

"I cried for an entire day when I found out. I think this is it…the test came out positive. This is the end."


End file.
